Yes, that looks nice. SS is a real pain to work, it is very tough and it tends to destroy metal working cutters quite rapidly. The grinding discs will cut through it, at the price of not being quite so smooth. As in your case, if the mounting flange on the gauge is big enough, it will cover any "errors" in the cutting! Congrats on getting her out of storage and doing a little work on her!

In real life, my name isWayne P.Anything I post is personal opinion and is only worth as much as anyone else's personal opinion. YMMV!

UPDATEI went ahead and bought the Auber brew/steam PID kit and there was a 200% improvement in the performance of Silvia. Her stock thermostats were running too hot and even with the brew thermostat, she was producing steam through the wand and scorching the water to give it a nasty taste.

The PID has tamed her to the point where she is able to produce an acceptable shot and a darn nice milk drink. Further work with the grinder and brew temp settings will, no doubt, result in further improvements in the shot.

The PID kit cost me $200 so add that to the $285 I had in her to start with and add a little for shipping etc, the bill is now at $500. About the limit of what this machine is worth in my opinion. Even though everything except the case and a tube or two is basically new, if I were buying from scratch, I do not think she is worth much more than this WITH the PID included.

If I had a $500 budget for machine only and new Silvia WITH PID sold in this range, she is a good value. If her price was much more than this though, I am afraid that I would be looking at used HX machines such as a used Oscar rather than a SBDU machine.

Do not forget though, the grinder is at least as important at this price point as the machine and I have her paired with an N.S. MDX, which is about on par with a SJ. Results in the cup with a lessor grinder may vary in quality.

Thanks guys, it was a fun project and if I was able to help someone or take some of the mystery away from working on these machines, it was worth it.

A note on the operation of Silvia and the PID:

With the PID set at 221F (brew temp) the heater comes on just about every two seconds for about a quarter of a second, just holding the temp to within that 1 deg F. The temp bounces back and forth between 220 and 221 but mostly at 221. The PID is operating at the pre programmed settings for Silvia from Auber. I can set it for more accurate stability of within .1 F at the expense of a longer stabilizing period but for me, 1 deg F is "close enough"

The first Latte I made since the rework had me behind the ball so to speak. I am so used to my HX machine that I just pulled the shots and started to steam the milk, I then realized there was no steam as I had not switched the machine to steam mode so I had to wait for it to come up to temp LOL! It did not take long but it felt like eternity!

Though she does not steam nearly as strong as my home machine, I was easily able to make a very silky microfoam in fairly short order. The "burn me" steam wand is going to take a little getting used to though and I think I may need to make a new tip for the steam wand, I really do not like cleaning the baked on milk from all the facets of the nut shaped tip, round or egg shape would be MUCH better.

In real life, my name isWayne P.Anything I post is personal opinion and is only worth as much as anyone else's personal opinion. YMMV!

I've talked & posted this many times before, no matter., but Wayne just wondering what temp you go to.., to steam.

I have an early Jim Gallt (pidkits.com) 965A Watlow 2 line display pid brew only. The stock Silvia steam stat is 140°C/284°F, & I have a 150°C/ 302°F one in there. I cam steam 15F hotter to 299F (or more) if I wish, & I'll tell ya I'm NOT wanting for more steam lol! {;-)

After I flip my steam switch, I just watch the pid temp display for the second line rise & crank open the steam valve when I get to where I want to be.

Craig,First. The offset brew temp when my PID is at 221 is brewing at around 204 according to the temperature relation in Fahrenheit chart supplied with the Auber kit. This was developed by them using several machines of various ages over several tests and measured with a SCACE device and then averaged so that is the long way to say "ball park temp" LOL

The PID unit is a single line one so to see the set temp, you need to go into the settings, I do like the two line display units more but the single line fits nicely between the steam wand and the group head, adding nothing to the sides or top of the machine.

The default temp for the steam came set at 286 which would be logical due to insurance and fear of suing factors. If it came at the default temp for the machine, they are not pushing the design of Silvia so they are off the hook as far as that goes.

As I have modified my girl and as of yet not added a over pressure SAFETY VALVE and where I have the OPV, it no longer provides that function, I am not going to tempt fate myself either though I am VERY confident in my work. EDIT: If you read this thread, you will see that I have moved the OPV from the side of the boiler where excessive pressure in the boiler will just push past the OPV and go harmlessly into the drip tray, to have the OPV mounted ON THE PUMP, thus, though the line pressure TO THE BOILER is lower, the excess pressure from a run away boiler can NOT relieve it's self like it used to be able to do. I need to add a safety valve such as on a HX machines boiler. End Edit:

I didn't say Silvia did not steam well, my home machine is, remember, a ECM Veniezano A1 with a 2.5 L boiler, so it has just a little more steam to tap into, I get twice the volume from each hole in my two hole tip at home that I do from the single hole on Silvia. I can steam 16 oz of milk in the same time Silvia takes to do 6.

The steam setting is "automatic" all I do is just turn on Silvia's normal steam switch and the PID does the rest and stops at 286. When I have finished the 6 oz of milk, it is down to about 260. The advertised advantage of having a PID on the steam side is not to stabilize the steam temp or to make it easily adjustable (though it is), rather it is to make the heater more responsive to the demand for steam. Like I said before, the heater comes on nearly at the same time as I open the steam valve so the deadband must be no more than 2 F for steaming, I would guess.

In real life, my name isWayne P.Anything I post is personal opinion and is only worth as much as anyone else's personal opinion. YMMV!

Staying on the PID control topic for a moment, I have a HX machine at home that needs a new Pstat as it was shot when I got the machine and the machine was non functional.

I was concerned that replacing the Pstat with a PID (not for temp stability reasons, that is not need on a HX machine but for cost of replacement parts) and a SSR, that the drop in temp would not be sensed fast enough for the HX machine to operate properly but I have found through the use of the PID on the steam side of Silvia that my fears were unfounded and that a reasonable repair of the nonfunctioning machine would be to install a PID and modify the boiler to take a RTD sensor mounted in the steam section (Jim had mentioned in a thread some place that the steam transfers heat quicker than water..... I think ????) and that I already have the sensor, all I would need to do would be to cap off the Pstat line, drill and tap a hole into the boiler (it has flat sided bolt on plates so this would be easy) then install a PID into the face of the machine.

The static pressure gauge on the machine is broken and would be a bear to replace as it is a unique design but the PID would eliminate the need for the gauge, thus fixing two problems at the same time. This is something I need to think about much more.

In real life, my name isWayne P.Anything I post is personal opinion and is only worth as much as anyone else's personal opinion. YMMV!

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